Colorized damping indicators for customized golf club heads

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a golf club having a playing characteristic that is communicated to a player based upon a vibration damping material that is colorized and visible from outside of the club head, thereby communicating to a golfer information about the playing characteristics of the club.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/093,708, filed Apr. 25, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/622,178, filed Nov. 19, 2009, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/469,621, filed Sep.1, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,822, which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to golf clubs and more specifically togolf clubs with improved mass properties and vibration damping.

BACKGROUND

Perimeter weighting in iron-type golf clubs distributes non-essentialmass of the iron towards the perimeter, reducing the effects thatoff-center hits have on the golf club and producing more accurate andconsistent golf ball trajectories. Perimeter weighting is achieved bycreating a cavity in the back of the golf club opposite the face orhitting surface. The material weight removed to create this cavity isredistributed around the perimeter of the golf club head. In general,larger cavity volumes correspond to increased amounts of massdistributed around the perimeter.

Removing material from the rear of the club head, however, reduces thethickness of the club face. Since the club face is the hitting surface,the club face cannot be so thin that the strength of the club facesurface is not sufficient to withstand the stress resulting from a golfball striking the club face. Reducing the thickness of the club face mayalso increase vibrations upon impact. These vibrations may cause badfeel to the user.

There are various examples of secondary material incorporation into irongolf club heads for vibration damping. Some of these materials providethe additional benefit of displacing weight to the perimeter of the clubhead so as to increase the club head's moment of inertia (MOI). Thesematerials can provide a variety of different playing characteristicswith the result that two clubs that are similar in appearance can infact be different when played.

Because a playing characteristic of a golf club may not be evident fromthe shape of the club, the club may not perform the way a golfer expectsit to. For example, a skilled golfer accustomed to playing with a clubthat has little or no damping material may unintentionally make a shotusing a club that has a very forgiving damping material and find thatthe club performs unpredictably. Similarly, two clubs having the sameshape may include damping material that provides very different weightdistributions such that one of the clubs has a much lower center ofgravity. A golfer who unwittingly switches one club for the other midwaythrough a game may find that their next shot launches in an unexpecteddirection, worsening the golfer's score.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a golf club having a playingcharacteristic that is communicated to a player based upon a vibrationdamping material that is colorized and visible from outside of the clubhead, thereby communicating to a golfer information about the playingcharacteristics of the club. This construction involves a club bodyportion having a face insert. There is a hollow area or channel betweenthe face insert and the body portion after the insertion of the faceinsert. This hollow channel is substantially filled with a heterogeneousviscoelastic material, such as urethane or natural or synthetic rubber,in which at least a portion of the material is colorized and visiblefrom outside of the club head. Suitable colorants include dyes andpigments. The material may further be heterogeneous as to density,thickness, or damping coefficient (i.e., shore hardness, elasticity, orsimilar measure). Density of a material can be modulated by inclusion offillers of differing densities. High density fillers include, but arenot limited to, metal powders such as tungsten powder. Low densityfillers include, but are not limited to, micro-spheres or voids createdby foaming agents. The fillers are partially incorporated into theviscoelastic material so that a lower density portion of the material islocated near the top or crown of the club head and a higher densityportion is located near the bottom or sole of the club head. This movesthe center of gravity of the club head downward and rearward whileproviding vibration damping. The shape and volume of the channel canalso be varied to further modify the weight distribution in the golfclub head. The incorporation of this secondary or damping materialprovides improved feel, improved weight distribution, and enhanced clubperformance.

In certain aspects, the invention provides a golf club head having abody portion that includes a sole, topline, heel, and toe region whichdefine a perimeter weight. The club head includes a hitting faceattached to a front of the body portion and a channel defined by theperimeter weight, at least a portion of the channel having an openingdirected only toward a back surface of the face insert. The club headfurther includes a damping material disposed in at least a portion ofthe channel, in which an exposed portion of the damping materialincludes a dye and is visible from an outside of the club head. In someembodiments, a portion of the damping material near the sole has a firstdensity and a portion of the material near the topline has a seconddensity lower than the first density. The sole portion and the toplineportion may both be of a different or the same color, with both beingexposed to the outside of the club head through an opening or windowthrough the body portion (e.g., one or more window openings near the topline, sole, or elsewhere in the club head body). The window openings canhave any shape, for example, elongated and running along a length of thechannel, or round, square, elliptical, oval, or any other shape. Eachwindow opening exposes either a portion of the damping material or apart of the interior of the club head, i.e., the inside of the channel.

The exposed portion of material can include a dye or pigment.Preferably, exposed material includes a bright, primary, or fluorescentcolor or a translucent portion of material (e.g., revealing a portion ofthe club head behind it). In certain embodiments, the exposed materialincludes a transparent layer of material (e.g., silicon or urethane)covering a colored underlying material. The material can include areasof different color, for example, where it appears in different windows,or within a single window more than one color can be visible. Any numberof different colored regions may be included, such as one, two, three,four, or more.

Colored regions of the damping material are provided to communicate to agolfer information about the playing characteristics of a club head. Forexample, having a colored damping material can inform a golfer that theclub head includes the damping material by making it more visible thanun-colored material. The invention provides different damping materialsin which a color indicates an amount of damping (for example, a dampingcoefficient) (e.g., green for soft, orange for intermediate, red forstiff). Including two or more regions of color within a club head cancommunicate to a golfer that a property of club head varies within thatclub head. For example, having a dark color near the sole can indicatethat weight is concentrated there (e.g., deep blue damping material nearsole is high density) while a light color near the top line can indicatethat weight is relatively low there (e.g., light blue damping materialnear top line is low density). Different colors can indicate otherheterogeneous properties, such as a thickness or softness of a dampingmaterial or a heterogeneous composition in a heel-toe direction, as wellas a top line-sole direction. In certain embodiments, the dampingmaterial is homogenous in physical properties, but heterogeneous incolor to indicate a heterogeneous property of the club head associatedwith parts of the club head other than the damping material. Forexample, in certain embodiments, the club head includes weight elementsnear the sole (e.g., tungsten) and the damping material near the weightelement is a different color than the rest to indicate the presence ofthe weights, thereby communicating to the golfer information about theplayability of the club.

The damping material can include any additive or ingredient useful tothe playability or durability of the club such as, for example, UVstabilizers or surface coatings. The damping material can occupy anentirety of, or less than an entirety of, the channel. In someembodiments, no material is disposed within an open region of thechannel creating a hollow space, wherein the hollow space is exposed byan opening.

In certain aspects, the invention provides a golf club including acolorized heterogeneous damping material disposed in a channel between aclub head body and a face insert, in which at least a portion of thedamping material is visible from outside of the club head, and in whicha mass distribution of the club head is optimized via the heterogeneousmaterial. For example, in one embodiment, the visible colorizedheterogeneous material has at least a first region having a firstdensity and disposed in the channel toward the top line of the golf clubbody and a second region having a second density and disposed in thechannel toward the sole of the body. The second density is greater thanthe first density, thereby lowering the center of gravity whileproviding vibration damping. When the channel is in the shape of agenerally annular or elliptical ring running substantially parallel tothe perimeter of the body of the golf club head, the first region of thevisible colorized material is disposed in a first portion of the channeladjacent the top line, and the second region of the visible colorizedmaterial is disposed in a second portion of the channel adjacent thesole. This annular or elliptical ring can be arranged with uniformdimensions, or the dimensions can be varied. For example, the annularchannel can have a first width disposed adjacent the top line and asecond width disposed adjacent the sole, such that the second width isgreater than the first width. Similarly, the annular channel further canhave a first depth in the first width area and a second depth in thesecond width area, such that the second depth is greater than the firstdepth. Therefore, a greater amount or volume of visible colorizedmaterial can be placed toward the sole and rearward in the club head.

The channel between the club body portion and the face insert maycomprise discrete portions, with at least one portion containing lowerdensity viscoelastic material and at least another portion containing ahigher density viscoelastic material.

In certain aspects, the invention provides a method of providinginformation about a playing characteristic of a golf club through avisual aspect of the golf club. Preferably, information about theplaying characteristic is communicated by an appearance of the portionof the club that bestows the club with the playing characteristic (e.g.,a color). The method includes colorizing at least a portion of a dampingmaterial and assembling a club head including the material. A coloredportion of material can provide information to a golfer about aplayability of the club head. For example, a color of the dampingmaterial can be associated with a damping coefficient or density.

In certain embodiments, the invention provides methods of a providing agolf club that includes a material having at least a portion customcolorized for a golfer. Methods of the invention include receiving orderinformation from a customer about a golf club and about a color andassembling a golf club including a material having a color indicated bythe color information. The invention further provides methods ofproviding a set of golf clubs having a colorized element in common amongall of the clubs of the set, creating an identity for the set that isuseful for showing ownership, reducing loss or theft, and assisting agolfer in selecting the appropriate club for making a shot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a first perspective rear view of an embodiment of the golfclub heads of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective front view of the club body portion without thehitting face; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the accompanying figures, exemplary embodiments of thegolf club head 10 in accordance with the present invention include bodyportion 20 (FIGS. 1 and 2) connected to hosel 22. Hosel 22 is adapted toreceive a shaft (not shown). The club head 20 is preferably cast orforged from suitable material such as stainless steel, carbon steel ortitanium. Body portion 20 includes top line 24, toe 26, sole 28 and heel30 that form the perimeter of body portion 20. Hosel 22 extendsgenerally from heel 30 of body portion 20. Club head 10 is preferably acavity back club; therefore, body portion 20 includes rear perimeter 32extending from the back of the club head and running along itsperimeter. The portion of perimeter weight 32 along sole 28 islarger/thicker to move the center of gravity downward and rearward.Arrangements for perimeter weighting are generally known in the art.

As is shown in FIG. 3, club head 10 also includes face insert 38attached to the front 36 of body portion 20. Suitable materials for faceinsert 38 include stainless steel, preferably a high-strength steelmaterial, and non-steel materials such as titanium and metal matrixcomposites (MMC). Face insert 38 forms the club face or hitting surfaceof club head 10. Suitable methods for attaching face insert 38 to bodyportion 20 include, but are not limited to, welding, swaging, pressfitting, hot isostatic pressing and attachment using bonding agents oradhesives. In one embodiment, face insert 38 is attached to body portion20 by laser-welding face insert 38 to cast body portion 20 of the golfclub. Face insert 38 is in contact with and supported by body portion 20at one or more support 40. In other areas, face insert 38 is spaced frombody portion 20 to define channel 42 disposed between at least a portionof face insert 38 and body portion 20. In one embodiment, channel 42 canbe completely enclosed between body portion 20 and face insert 38.Channel 42 is adapted to receive a secondary or damping material.

In one embodiment, hollow or channel 42 is not completely enclosed butis arranged to have one or more open areas or openings 44 to the backcavity. Openings 44 can be positioned near top line 24 or sole 28, andcan be an elongated channel or circular shape. These open areas oropenings allow any secondary material disposed in the channel to bevisible to the user. The open areas can function as windows, revealing aportion of the channel within, or a portion of a damping materialdisposed within the channel. This allows a club manufacturer to easilycommunicate in an intuitive way information about a property of the clubsuch as a property of a damping material within channel 42. Channel 42can be formed as a uniform channel or can vary in size and shape. In oneembodiment, channel 42 forms a generally annular shape runningsubstantially parallel to rear perimeter 32. In one embodiment, channel42 between face insert 38 and cast body 20 extends from about 45° toabout 360° around the perimeter of the face of the golf club. Channel 42may comprise several discrete portions. In one embodiment, the width ofthis annular channel is varied. For example, annular channel 42 can havefirst width 46 disposed adjacent top line 24 and second width 48disposed adjacent sole 28. In one embodiment, second width 48 is greaterthan first width 46. In addition, the depth of the annular channel canbe varied. For example, channel 42 can include first depth 50 and areasof second depth 53, such as at openings 44 as shown in thecross-sectional view of FIG. 3, in first width 46 area or other areasdisposed toward top line 24 and second depth 51 in the second width 48area. Second depth 53 is greater than first depth 50. Varying the depthand width of channel 42 varies the volume of channel 42 and the amountof channel 42 in contact with face insert 38.

Damping material may also be provided as a body or sheet opposing (i.e.,fixed onto the back of) face insert 38, optionally being heterogeneousin thickness, density, color, or damping coefficient. Damping bodies areshown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,192,363; U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,036; and U.S. Pub.2011/0028236, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entirety.

One or more of opening 44 can be included facing to the back of theclub, up, down, in a heel or toe direction, forward, or in anydirection. In some embodiments, one or more opening 44 is open in anupward direction when a club is at address, and a golfer holding theclub at address can see a portion of a damping material through the oneor more opening 44. For example, in some embodiments, two openings arepositioned near a top line of a club head and between about 20 mm andabout 60 mm apart, preferably between about 40 mm and about 50 mm apart,e.g., about 43 mm apart. Each of the two openings reveals to a golfer aportion of a colorized damping material, and thereby provide the golferwith a visual alignment aid. For example, the two upward facing openingscan be centered around a sweet spot on the striking face of the clubhead. As an alignment aid, the club head can also optionally have anopening directly above a sweet spot on a strike face.

In order to damp vibration and improve weight distribution,heterogeneous material 52 is disposed in at least a portion of channel42. The material 52 is heterogeneous in that the composition and densityof material 52 is varied depending on its location within channel 42. Inone embodiment, heterogeneous composite material 52 is disposed in theentire channel 42. In general, the composition, e.g., the density, ofcomposite material 52 is varied in order to shift more weight downwardand rearward, thereby moving the center of gravity of golf club head 10downward and rearward as well. Therefore, the portion of compositematerial 52 located toward top line 24 is formulated to have lowerdensity, and the portion of composite material located toward sole 28 isformulated to have higher density. The volume and configuration ofchannel 42 can also be used to improve the weight distribution. Forexample, the channel is arranged to be larger or to extend fartherrearward in areas located near the sole of the club head. In oneembodiment, heterogeneous composite material 52 contains first region 54having a first density and disposed in channel 42 toward top line 24 ofbody portion 20. The composite material also includes second region 56containing second density and disposed in channel 42 toward sole 28 ofbody portion 20. The second density is greater than the first density.

A composite material or damping material according to the invention canbe described in terms of a damping coefficient. A high dampingcoefficient material includes materials with good viscoelasticity suchas, for example, Sorbothane visco-elastic polymeric solid fromSorbothane, Incorporated (Kent, Ohio). In some embodiments, a materialwith a low damping coefficient such as, for example, rubber is provided.For some golfers, a damping property is a matter of comfort, personaltaste, or playing ability. The invention provides a golf club that hasdifferent damping properties depending on the damping coefficient of thematerial used for a damping material disposed in a channel.

Suitable methods for introducing or attaching the damping material tothe channel include, but are not limited to, pouring or injecting thedamping material into the hollow area after face insert 42 is welded tothe body, for example through openings in the back of the body portion.The face insert can also be crimped into place, allowing theheterogeneous composite material to be molded separately and placed intothe cast body before crimping, providing the benefit of ease ofmanufacture. The molded material can be press fit or attached using abonding agent such as glues or epoxies. Alternatively, the compositematerial can be poured or injected into the hollow area before faceinsert 42 is installed, as with laser-welded attachments.

In a preferred embodiment, channel 42 is arranged with a generallyannular shape that runs substantially parallel to the perimeter of bodyportion 20. In this arrangement, first region 54 of composite material52 is disposed in a first portion of channel 42 disposed adjacent topline 24, and second region 56 of composite material 52 is disposed in asecond portion of channel 42 adjacent sole 28. In this embodiment,composite material 52 substantially fills the entire channel 42,providing contact with face insert 38 throughout the channel area.

The heterogeneous material is selected to enhance weight distributionand vibration damping. In one embodiment, the heterogeneous compositematerial includes a viscoelastic material. Suitable viscoelasticmaterials include, e.g., polyurethane, natural or synthetic rubbers,other elastomers, epoxies, and combinations thereof. Preferably, theheterogeneous composite material includes a polyurethane made from apolyol and a polyisocyanate. In general, any viscoelastic material canbe used. If the heterogeneous material is to be poured or injected, thematerial should have a low viscosity, minimal shrinkage rate and quickset-up time to allow for ease of manufacturing. Suitable materialsinclude silicone rubbers such as RTV-627, which is commerciallyavailable from MG Chemicals of Surrey, B.C., Canada.

Changes in the weight or density of the heterogeneous material toachieve heterogeneity are achieved by adding fillers to the material.These fillers can either decrease, e.g., glass beads, micro-spheres orvoids created by foaming agents, or increase, e.g., metal powders, thedensity of the composite material. Suitable fillers include, but are notlimited to, carbon graphite, metal fibers, zinc oxide, barium sulfate,calcium oxide, calcium carbonate and silica, as well as the otherwell-known corresponding salts and oxides thereof, foaming agents, glassspheres, metals and combinations thereof. Preferably the additive orfiller is a metal powder. Suitable metal powders include, but are notlimited to, tungsten, magnesium, titanium and aluminum. Preferably, themetal powder has high density such as tungsten powder, producing, forexample, a tungsten-filled silicone rubber. The amount of filler isselected based upon the desired density distribution requirements. Inone embodiment; upper portion 54 contains un-filled viscoelasticmaterial and lower portion 56 contains high density metal-filledviscoelastic material.

Additional components that can be added to the heterogeneous materialinclude UV stabilizers and other dyes, as well as optical brightenersand fluorescent pigments and dyes. Such additional ingredients may beadded in any amounts that will achieve their desired purpose. Ingeneral, “colorized” refers to a material to which a pigment or dye hasbeen added with the purpose of giving that material a color. In certainembodiments, pigments are added, e.g., as identified by an index numberprovided by the Color Index International (CII) published by theAmerican Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (ResearchTriangle Park, NC). Suitable pigments include pigments based on cadmium,chromium, cobalt, copper, iron oxides, mercury, titanium, ultramarine,or similar such as, for example, cadmium yellow, carbon black, cobaltblue, azurite, venetian red, caput mortuum, Naples yellow, titaniumwhite, or Phthalocyanine Green G. Pigments are available from PrismaColour (Chisworth, Derbyshire, UK). Suitable elastic materials,pigments, and colorized materials are available from Wacker Chemie(Munchen, Germany). In certain embodiments, damping material 52 iscolorized to match an exterior surface of a golf club, for example, tomake a substantially monochrome golf club. Damping material may also beprovided that is translucent, for example, by silicon or urethaneincluding a pigment to produce a translucent material.

As shown in the figures, club body portion 20 also includes centralopening 58 having perimeter 59 that generally parallels the perimeter ofbody portion 20. Opening 58 exposes back surface 60 of face insert 38 tothe back of the club head. Adjacent perimeter 59 of opening 58 iscontact surface 40 that is in contact with face insert 38. In oneembodiment, step or space 62 runs along perimeter 59 and is spaced fromcontact surface 40, as shown in FIG. 3. This provides a gap that can beused to inject the heterogeneous composite materials 52.

Exemplary embodiments of golf clubs having the face insert, cast bodyand heterogeneous viscoelastic material in accordance with the presentinvention provide improved feel due to the damping provided byviscoelastic material 52 confined in channel 42 disposed between bodyportion 20 and face insert 38. The damping material is in contact withand is located directly behind the hitting area, as well as around theperimeter of the face, where significant vibration could occur. Byremoving weight from the topline and upper perimeter and replacing itwith lighter viscoelastic material and by adding high density filler tothe viscoelastic material near the sole, the center of gravity islowered. Arrangements in accordance with the present invention can beused with various types of golf clubs includes irons, putters andwedges.

Golf clubs in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention allow for damping material to be placed around the entireperimeter of the face, if desired, or to be isolated to specific areasof the club head such as only the top line or only the high or low toearea. In addition to the mass property and vibration damping benefits,the channel may have a unique appearance if part of the channel is leftexposed. The exposed area would create a window or series of windowsthrough which the viscoelastic material can be seen. One or more windowsin conjunction with colorized viscoelastic material of one or morecolors provides a number of useful benefits to a club head.

Color in a club head provides a number of useful benefits and functionaladvantages. Color enables a club head to be identified. If multipleplayers have clubs that are similar but for a unique color, each playercan easily spot their own clubs. Color makes a club much easier to spot,for example, from a distance or in diminished light conditions. Colorcan indicate a property of a club head (loft, damping, shaft flex,etc.).

Damping material according to the invention may be colorized with anycolor, including any hue, or fluorescent or day-glow colors, as well asnovelty effects and finishes, such as metallic flake, marbleized ortie-dyed affects, or photochromic or thermochromic material (see, e.g.,material described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,583; U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,161;and U.S. Pub. 2007/0252115, the contents of each of which are hereinincorporated by reference in their entirety). The term “photochromic”generally refers to a reversible change of color under exposure tolight, for example by a chromene or a silver halide salt. Photochromicmaterials are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,180; U.S. Pub.2011/0108781; U.S. Pub. 2007/0054590; and U.S. Pub. 2004/0266553, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In certain embodiments, a golf club is provided having adamping material disposed in a channel with a portion visible fromoutside of the club that is a color of high visibility such as, forexample, a bright color like yellow, a day-glow color or fluorescentcolor, or similar. Such a color makes a golf club that is easier to seein low light conditions and easy to pick out from among a number ofclubs. A golfer benefits by having a distinctive, easy to see and easyto find golf club. The color is provided in the club by colorizing adamping material, for example, disposed between a face plate and a clubhead body.

A damping material improves the playability of a club when disposed in achannel between different hard parts of a club, such a channelseparating a striking face from a body. The damping material can be madevisible from outside of the club by leaving a portion of the channelopen—even if another portion of the channel is fully enclosed.

Use of a damping material in a club head creates an opportunity to addcolor to a club head in an inexpensive way. It is easier to impregnate adamping material with pigments than the surrounding material (e.g.,steel, titanium, etc.). It is also less expensive to add color to a clubhead in an elastic material than throughout the club head. Known methodsof coloring golf clubs—see, for example, U.S. Pub. 2008/0076598—caninvolve complex, multi-layer finishes that are expensive to apply andnot suited to a variety of club head materials. The strike plate andsurrounding body may be formed of expensive metal alloys manufactured inonce process (e.g., forged, cast, direct laser metal sintered), but theclub head can be assembled with an elastic material that is dyed andpoured in during assembly, or pressed into a channel after. Accordingly,a manufacturing mistake during a colorizing step does not waste anentire metal club head as the color damping material can be thrown awayand the metal components can be used again to assemble a club head.

A benefit of colorizing a portion of a club is that it provides theability to communicate information about a club in a manner that can bevery intuitive and straightforward. Clubs can be provided whereindifferent colors indicate a property of each club. For example, clubscan be color coded by damping coefficient or by loft setting. Includingcolor material that communicates something about a club helps golfers onthe course quickly pick the right club for the shot (e.g., high loftclubs include blue for sky, low loft clubs include green for grass,etc.). Coloring the material emphasizes the special vibration dampingproperties of the club. Color is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,025,589and U.S. Pub. 2002/0187845, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

In certain embodiments, the invention provides methods for making a clubwith a color portion. Methods of the invention include assembling a clubhead including a body, a face insert, and a damping material, whereinthe assembled club head includes a channel having the damping materialdisposed therein. A window or opening to the channel can be provided toreveal a portion of the damping material to an exterior of the club.Methods further include colorizing all or a portion of the dampingmaterial with a dye or pigment.

By colorizing the damping material and exposing the colored material tothe outside of the club head, methods of the invention solve the problemof communicating properties of a club head to golfers. In certainembodiments, a golf club is provided that is offered in a variety ofdamping levels provided by a variety of materials and each material iscolored to indicate its damping level. Thus, a very soft material withgood damping may be colored green and a very stiff material with onlysubtle damping may be colored red.

In certain embodiments, a color portion of a golf club is customized.Providing a customized golf club includes receiving information from acustomer about a golf club, such as a type, a material, or an effectivesetting for loft or a shaft length and receiving information about acolor. Information about a color can be received in the form of adigital photo, a specimen, a description, input into a computer system(e.g., an HTML color picker), a pantone number, or a choice from acatalog (e.g., implemented as a pull-down menu in a computer interface).Methods of providing a customized color can include custom colorizing acomponent to be assembled into a club head such as, for example, thedamping material. In some embodiments, a previously assembled club headis colorized or custom colorized by replacing a damping material in theclub head with a colorized damping material.

In some embodiments, a customer's entire set of diverse club (e.g.,irons and wedges) can have a color element in common, creating aunifying theme. Theft is more difficult, as is accidental loss, becausethe custom color is associated with the correct owner. The inventionfurther provides methods of providing a customized set of golf clubswherein each club has a color element in common, for example, acolorized damping material.

A damping material can be heterogeneous as to color or as to a physicalproperty, such as density, porosity, pliability, modulus, hardness, orelasticity. Providing a club with a higher damping coefficient (e.g.,softer, more elastic damping material) makes a club softer and morepleasant to play with. In some embodiments, the damping coefficient in aclub head is varied within or throughout a channel. For example, a lowdamping material is positioned near a sole and a high damping materialis placed near a top line.

In some embodiments, the density of the damping material remainssubstantially the same throughout, and the damping material is made froma composite material, such as a viscoelastic material with fillers, asdescribed in details above. In one example, the viscoelastic materialcomprises polyurethane and the filler comprises low densitymicro-spheres or high density metal powders. The option of using lowdensity or high density fillers provides golf club designers withadditional degrees of freedom to locate the center of gravity at desiredlocations, to size the sweet spot of the golf clubs, and to adjust MOIas desired.

While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the inventiondisclosed herein fulfill the objectives of the present invention, it isappreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may bedevised by those skilled in the art. Additionally, feature(s) and/orelement(s) from any embodiment may be used singly or in combination withother embodiment(s) and steps or elements from methods in accordancewith the present invention can be executed or performed in any suitableorder. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims areintended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which wouldcome within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A golf club head, comprising: a body portioncomprising a sole, topline, heel, and toe region and defining aperimeter channel; a hitting face attached to a front of the bodyportion; a channel having an opening directed only toward a back surfaceof the face insert; and a damping material disposed in at least aportion of the channel, wherein an exposed portion of the dampingmaterial is colorized and is visible from an outside of the club head.2. The golf club of claim 1, wherein a portion of the damping materialnear the sole comprises a material having a first density and a secondportion of the damping material near the topline comprises a materialhaving a second density lower than the first density.
 3. The golf clubof claim 2, wherein the portion has a color and the second portion has asecond color different than the first and both portions are visible fromoutside of the club head through one or more openings through the bodyportion.
 4. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the exposed portion isvisible through an opening to a back of the club head.
 5. The golf clubof claim 4, wherein the opening is near the top line.
 6. The golf clubof claim 4, wherein the opening is near the sole.
 7. The golf club ofclaim 1, wherein the exposed portion is visible through an elongatedopening.
 8. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the exposed portion isvisible through a circular opening.
 9. The golf club of claim 1, whereinthe exposed portion comprises a transparent material covering a coloredunderlying material.
 10. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the colorizedportion of material includes a fluorescent pigment.
 11. The golf club ofclaim 1, wherein the damping material further comprises a second exposedcolorized portion of a different color than the first portion andvisible from an outside of the club head.
 12. The golf club of claim 2,further comprising: a third portion of the material disposed in at leasta portion of the channel, wherein the third material is different fromthe first and second portions.
 13. The golf club head of claim 1,wherein the second portion of material is disposed in only an upperportion of the entire channel near the top line of the body portion. 14.The golf club head of claim 12, wherein the third material is disposedin only a lower portion of the entire channel near the sole of the bodyportion.
 15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the third materialhas a greater density than the first and second materials.
 16. The golfclub head of claim 14, wherein the third portion comprises tungsten. 17.The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the second and third portions ofmaterial comprise UV stabilizers.
 18. The golf club of claim 1, furtherwherein no material is disposed within an open region of the channelcreating a hollow space, wherein the hollow space is exposed by anopening.
 19. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein the second portionis disposed in only a lower portion of the entire channel near the soleof the body portion.
 20. A golf club head, comprising: a body portioncomprising a sole, topline, heel, and toe region; a hitting face at afront of the body portion; a damping material disposed within the bodyportion and in contact with the hitting face, wherein an exposed portionof the damping material is colorized and is visible from an outside ofthe club head.
 21. The club head of claim 20, wherein the hitting faceand the body portion comprise different materials and the dampingmaterial comprises an elastic material.
 22. The club head of claim 21,wherein the body portion comprises an aperture substantially filled bythe hitting face and a second aperture and a portion of the dampingmaterial is visible through the second aperture.